Prohibition

Definition  The movement to ban the production, importation, and transportation of liquor.  The WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union) were leaders in the movement to ban alcohol.

Why Enact Prohibition in Canada? It was argued that:  Grain should be used to feed the soldiers overseas.  The liquor industry, and its workers, could better serve our country producing war supplies.  Therefore, in 1918, Prohibition was enacted

Prohibition  Between 1915 and 1917, every province except Quebec outlawed the sale and consumption of alcohol  In 1918, Prime Minister Borden incorporated prohibition into Canada’s war effort  Distillers’ and brewer’ ingredients were needed to feed the troops

Positive Effects of the Prohibition Law  Many types of violent crimes decreased  Arrests for public drunkenness dropped.  Prohibition did reduce alcohol consumption by about 80 percent  Workers didn’t spend their money at bars, but rather on their families.  Industrial efficiency increased.

Negative Effects of the Prohibition Law  Became impossible to completely enforce.  Provincial governments lost millions in taxes on liquor sales.  Unpopular with citizens and voters  It also inspired a wave of crime that created tensions between Canada and the United States  New types of crime emerged  (bootlegging).

 In the United States, prohibition was federal law from 1920 to 1933  In Canada, however, the so-called “noble experiment” sputtered out  Quebec never enforced prohibition and most provincial governments gave up on total prohibition by the early to mid-1920’s

New Crime: Bootlegging Bootlegging  The act of producing and/or selling illegal alcohol. Rum Running  The act of transporting illegal alcohol over the border of the U.S. and Canada

New Crime: Bootlegging Rum Alley  International rivers where illegal alcohol was smuggled across by schooners. The Detroit River The Niagara River

New Crime: Bootlegging Speakeasies  Private illegal clubs that sold alcohol during prohibition.  Citizens had to keep club’s location a secret (speakeasy) so that it would not get raided by the police.

 Prohibition laws were hard to enforce  Many people were prepared to break them, either because they liked to drink or because they could get rich selling alcohol illegally  And the ingredients and technology for brewing and distilling were easy to come by

Bootleggers Rocco Perri (Canadian)  From Hamilton, ON  Specialized in smuggling liquor from the United States into Canada. Al Capone (American) From Chicago, IL Notorious bootlegger and murderer. Was convicted and sent to Alcatraz for tax evasion.

Samuel Bronfman  One of the most remarkable Canadian risk-takers of the prohibition era was a man name Samuel Bronfman  His family established a successful prairie hotel business and Sam capitalized on its success when he founded the Canada Pure Drug Company of Yorkton, Saskatchewan in 1919

 Canadian laws allowed Bronfman’s company to import unlimited amounts of liquor from Europe for “medicinal purposes”  This liquor was then distributed to company warehouses along the Canadian side of the border  From there, liquor was quietly smuggled into the United States

 Although created in 1904, it became shipped to the USA in 1919  “Dry” “ginger Ale”  Also masked the smell of home made Hooch

 USA crime and prohibition